Mark Ruffalo

One thing is for certain about director Tom McCarthy — he’s been very diverse, which makes him a bit unpredictable. His most recent film was the laughably, inconceivably awful The Cobbler, starring Adam Sandler. But prior to that he made acclaimed films like The Station Agent and Win Win. With that little Adam Sandler hiccup behind us now, we’re free to look forward to Spotlight, a new drama featuring an excellent ensemble cast and some very serious subject matter. Best of all: no magic shoes.

While promoting Avengers: Age of Ultron, Mark Ruffalo expressed interest in making a new solo Hulk movie, and he also revealed the reason why it hasn’t happened yet: Universal still has the rights to distribute future Hulk films, which is something Marvel would need to figure out to move forward. A new report suggests that the rights issue may not entirely be an issue at all — the only thing keeping Marvel from making a Hulk movie is Marvel itself.

With each casting update, Captain America: Civil War is sounding more and more like Avengers 2.5 — that makes sense, to a degree, since this installment in the franchise is going to majorly change things in the MCU and really shape the future of Phase 3. So far we have (deep breath) Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, Falcon, Vision, Ant-Man, Black Panther and War Machine. There are a couple of Avengers missing from that list, and it looks like one of them might be joining the fun.

If Marvel won’t listen to the rest of us, then maybe they’ll listen to a valuable person on their payroll. Recently, we learned that Marvel and Disney’s officially-licensed Avengers: Age of Ultron merchandise featured very, very little in the way of Black Widow (options include a shopping bag, for instance), and absolutely no Scarlet Witch merchandise at all. Apparently fans weren’t the only ones bothered by this, as Avengers star Mark Ruffalo also has something to say about it. Hey Marvel, you don’t want to make him angry. You won’t like him when he’s angry.

Typically while doing press rounds for any film that’s perceived as male-oriented, actresses are often asked the dumbest, most sexist questions over and over and over again, while their male co-stars get to answer the awesome questions. Women get asked about their diets, outfits and makeup, while men are asked about filming action sequences and their opinion about the film’s headier concepts. But one very clever reporter flipped the script in a recent interview with Avengers: Age of Ultron stars Mark Ruffalo and Scarlett Johansson, and the results are hilarious.

There’s a lot to like about Avengers: Age of Ultron, but the coolest thing about it is the way it reclaims the comic book part of the phrase “comic-book movie.” Rather than using these characters to do something “edgy” or “adult” or “important,” or sanding down their quirkier edges to appeal to as broad and mainstream an audience as possible, Age of Ultron doubles down on its source material’s geeky origins.

Everyone is going to see Avengers: Age of Ultron because it’s filled with big action carried out by men and women in cool superhero costumes. But if it’s anything like the first Avengers, it will resonate because the people in those costumes are a blast to be around. The latest clip from Joss Whedon’s eagerly anticipated sequel is light on action but heavy on group camaraderie. Scenes like this are going to make Age of Ultron a billion dollar movie.

When an actor signs on to play a superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they typically aren’t signing up for a single movie. They’re signing up for a whole bunch — sometimes as many as nine films — so Marvel can plan ahead for years, scoping out where a character can go over the course of several appearances. But contracts run out and some actors managed to finagle their way in without signing up for a bunch of movies in advance. So superhero movie fans always wonder just how many more times they’ll get to see Chris Evans play Captain America or Robert Downey Jr. play Iron Man. How many movies are left on their contract? What’s next?

Ever since the Hulk stole the show back in 2012’s The Avengers, fans have been clamoring for a solo adventure for Mark Ruffalo and his big, green alter-ego. And yet, we’ve heard nothing and aside from a tiny cameo in Iron Man 3, Bruce Banner has sat out Marvel’s Phase 2. However, Ruffalo himself has spoken out about the matter and it sounds like Earth’s mightiest green rage monster is being constrained by the most powerful force in the universe: rights issues.